


Smells like a bad idea

by imaginativemind29



Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Broken Bones, Caring siblings, Day 12, Day 9, Dragon Hunters, Run, Sibling Rivalry, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginativemind29/pseuds/imaginativemind29
Summary: Ryker boasts that he can track down any dragon just by the sense of his smelling. Viggo is convinced he can't. Lars 2 suggests a bet. Things go wrong.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947154
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Smells like a bad idea

**Author's Note:**

> This story resulted out of a headcanon of mine. In the episode Night of the Hunters I when Ryker makes his first appearance, he sniffs the air and thus finds Stormfly and Astrid. Yeah, I thought Ryker just must have a really fine nose and he surely boasted about it when he was younger.
> 
> In this one-shot Ryker is 14, Lars 13 and Viggo 12 years old.
> 
> Whumptober prompts used: Day 9: RUN  
> Day 12: Broken Bones

Viggo sat crossed legged on the floor of his grandfather's study, where the smell of old books danced up his nose. A tiny wooden construction stood before him. The tip of his tongue between his lips, he switched between adjusting the construction and sketching into his notebook. This was going to work.

He reached for a small wooden dragon figurine when the door was pushed inwards, followed by the sound of roaring laughter. His brother and cousin no doubt, being as graceful as a Rumblehorn like usual.

"See? Told you we'd find him here." Lars' voice rang out, "You missed sword's training, Vig."

Viggo deliberately ignored them, kept working on his sketch. If he didn't give them any reaction they would hopefully tire of annoying him and leave. His hope, however, was very short lived.

"Hey what you got there?" Ryker snatched the notebook from Viggo's hands and the younger boy cried out in protest.

"Give that back!"

Viggo jumped to his feet and darted at his brother, trying to pry the book out of his beefy hands.

"Catch it if you can, then!" Ryker mocked and threw it across the room. Lars caught it mid-air with a loud HA!

He let himself drop into the chair next to the fireplace and brought his feet up to rest on the Maces and Talons board. Viggo inwardly cringed as pieces of mud dropped onto the board. Lars turned the notebook this way, then that, his face scrunched up as he tried to figure it out.

"What's that even supposed to be? Looks weird."

"Because you're holding it upside down!" Viggo crossed his arms in front his chest and glared.

"Oh," Lars laughed and turned the book around, "Alright... yeah...uhm...no..."

Viggo rolled his eyes, not without uttering _idiot_ under his breath. He crossed the room with large steps and tore the book out of his cousins hands.

"It's a dragon trap," he snapped, pressing the notebook protectively to his chest, "A new one. I invented it."

"HA! I don't need any trap to catch me a dragon. I got this." Ryker boasted and tapped his nose.

"What? You mean an ugly face?" Viggo mocked, but instinctively took a step back. He'd better not be in the range of Ryker's fist.

"My nose!" Ryker growled, cracking the knuckles of his fingers threateningly, "I can track down _any_ dragon just by my sense of smelling."

Viggo snorted. "No, you cannot."

"I sure can."

"No! You can't!"

Lars' eyes darted between the brother's, his grin growing by the second. "Ohoho this is brilliant!" He clapped his hands in excitement. "Let's make a bet!"

\-------

Viggo peered up into the sky, his eyes taking in grey clouds. It was chilly, so he pulled his fur cloak tighter around himself. The scent of rain hung in the air this early morning when the three boys left their village behind and followed the path that led upwards to the mountains until they reached the edge of the forest. Silvery mist clung to every surface, creating an eerie atmosphere and a chill ran up Viggo's spine.

"I'm not sure about this." he muttered, fingers sneaking to the hilt of his dagger.

"What? You're gonna chicken out now?" Lars scoffed and Ryker didn't miss the opportunity to cackle and waggle his arms like the fowl in question.

Viggo felt heat rush to his cheeks. "I'm not...it's just...this is stupid."

"No, this is genius." Lars said, rubbing his hands in glee. He retrieved a piece of cloth from the pocket of his coat and tied it around Ryker's head, waving his hands in front of the older boy's face to make sure he couldn't see a thing. "And don't forget if Ryker wins..."

"I'll take over your stable duty for a week, yes I know." Viggo rolled his eyes, "I still think this is stupid. It's also forbidden, grandfather..."

"Pfff, don't piss yourself little brother, it's going to be fine. You're with the big boys now." Ryker declared and pointed to the quiver full of dragon root arrows on his back. "I know what I am doing."

Viggo would have argued to opposite, but he had already agreed to this and he couldn't back down now. Not if he wanted to keep his face in front of his older brother and cousin. He sighed and tightened his grip around his dagger.

"Fine."

\----

The further they walked into the forest, the denser it became.

Ryker sniffed, then stopped, then continued walking and sniffed some more.

Lars was holding onto his arm, preventing the older boy from tripping over roots and broken off branches. The boys were chatting and laughing along the way as if it was perfectly normal to walk around the forest blindfolded. Well maybe it was, for them.

Viggo fell behind after a while and yawned. They'd been wandering around for at least an hour now and still no dragon in sight. What a waste of time. He could be sitting in front of the fireplace right now with his nose buried into a book or perhaps his grandfather would've invited him to play a game of Maces and Talons, but instead he was trudging behind a blindfolded megalomaniac and a dumbass. 

Suddenly a rustling sound drew to his ear. Viggo swiveled around, looking back down the path they'd come from. But nothing. How strange.

Viggo half-turned back around when the sound came again. Somewhere to his left this time. His heartbeat increased with every breath he took and he drew his dagger. There was something lurking behind the trees, Viggo could feel it in his gut.

"Wait!" Ryker's voice rang out, "I'm onto something."

"Ha! I knew it!" Lars cheered, "What is it?"

A sniffing noise.

"Hard to tell, but it reeks of dragon," Ryker said and removed his blindfold.

A cracking sound in the undergrowth and then Viggo saw a bush moving as if by magic.

"I...I think it's here..." he stuttered, feeling his heart pound in his throat and clutching the dagger tighter. He was right for in the next moment Viggo found himself staring up into big yellow eyes.

_Uh oh.  
_

"Oh Thor!" Lars shouted, "Viggo, don't move!"

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. He was frozen to the spot as fear gripped him hard. He'd never encountered a wild dragon before, never mind one as dangerous as a Changewing. The dragon gave a threatening snarl, baring its teeth.

"It's going to spit before I can take my first shot!" Ryker cried as he fumbled with his bow and arrow.

"Okay, I take it back! Move!" Lars yelled, drawing his sword, "Run!"

A sudden jolt of adrenaline rushed through Viggo's limbs and he darted to the side - just in time. Steaming green acid burned its way through autumn leaves where Viggo had stood only second ago.

Without a second thought, Viggo ran. The Changewing followed on his heels with a furious roar, chasing him. Ryker and Lars were shouting somewhere behind him but Viggo couldn't make out their words. He had to get away, had to shake the dragon off somehow.

Pain was flaring in his side with every breath he took but he didn't stop running, he couldn't. But then it happened.

"Ah!" Viggo cried out as his foot caught on a rather large root and he fell face forward onto the forest floor, tiny twigs cutting into his palms and face. His dagger went flying along with him, lost somewhere in the undergrowth.

Panicked, Viggo tried to scramble back up. He couldn't. His foot was stuck.

He twisted around, grabbed hold of his ankle.

"Oww!" he howled as he was sent into a world of agony. His ankle was throbbing, the white hot pain bringing tears to his eyes. "Oh no, no, no!"

Viggo cried when the Changewing appeared above him, his chest heaving in deadly terror. He was going to die. The dragon opened its snout and Viggo squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting the burning acid to touch his skin - but it never came.

The sound of metal colliding with flesh. The dragon gave a pained roar. Something wet and hot splattered onto Viggo's skin, but it didn't burn.

Viggo's eyes darted open and grew wide in a instant when he saw Ryker standing where the dragon had been only a few seconds ago. The older boy stood bloody and panting with his sword still raised. The dragon's headless body a slump heap at his feet.

Lars darted out of the trees only seconds later, his eyes growing equally wide at the sight that unfolded before him. For several heartbeats no one said a word.

Ryker was the first to shake out of it.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he wiped his sword on his pants, soiling them with blood.

As if his words were a cue, the pain came crashing back with a new force. Viggo gritted his teeth, trying and failing to hold back tears. His ankle was pulsating and Viggo could feel it swell painfully against his boot.

"No..." he groaned, "My ankle..."

The older boy grunted. "Lars help me out over here."

Ryker crouched down in front of his brother and took hold of his ankle. Viggo screamed. Even the slightest touch hurt like Hel.

"Fuck," Ryker cursed, "I think it's broken..."

"B-broken?" Viggo cried, both from pain and from the prospect of being unable to walk for weeks.

"Hmm."

Lars scratched the back of his head. "Well shit, but on the positive side...you get to skip stable duty..."

Viggo was surprised to find Ryker shooting his cousin a glare. Lars shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. "Bad joke? Yeah alright...you're right...let's get you out of that nasty root and then Nanna can patch you up..."

Getting him out had more tears stream down Viggo's face as the pain became almost blinding, but then it was done and Ryker picked him up in his arms and carried him back down the path.

The boys walked in silence for a while, only broken by the occasional whimper on Viggo's side when Ryker suddenly started talking.

"I hate to say it, but you were right," he said, "It was stupid."

"What?" Viggo's brows furrowed in surprise.

"You nearly died, because of a stupid bet." There was genuine regret in Ryker's eyes and that had Viggo swallow hard. Well, that was new. He didn't know how to handle his brother's sudden show of emotions.

"Well you did smell the dragon," Viggo offered, but Ryker only grunted in response.

"Doesn't matter. It's worth nothing if I'd lost you over it."

"Wow Ryker, that's uh...deep coming from you," Lars said, his lips already twitching into a grin again, "You're all hard and rough on the outside but soft and cuddly on the inside."

"You can meet my hard and rough fist if you don't shut up."

Lars raised his hands in a defensive manner. "Alright, alright," he said, before he brought his attention to Viggo, "I'm glad the dragon didn't have you for breakfast Viggo and I'm sorry about your ankle."

"Uh, thanks."

When the boys reached the edge of the forest, two men were already waiting for them. Viggo's and Ryker's father, Ragnar, stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest and scowled. Magnus, his second in command stood next to him. 

Lars let out a deep sigh. "We are so dead." 


End file.
